Tucker Carlson's Interview With Putin Told Us More About The Establishment
Tucker Carlson's much vaunted and much maligned interview with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was a little bit of a letdown for us.
In terms of maligning Tucker, it would have been hard to beat former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who in a Daily Mail op-ed, criticized Carlson's interviewing Putin, saying he was "fawning, guffawing" and had "slack-jawed happiness at having a 'scoop.'" The former prime minister said Tucker "betrayed" viewers around the world.
"He didn't ask tough questions. He didn't ask Putin why even now he is using the most brutal means of modern warfare to maim and murder innocent Ukrainian civilians," Johnson wrote.
Instead, Carlson acted like a fan of Putin and "boneheadedly" accepted Putin's "mixture of semi-masticated Wikipedia and outright falsehood," Johnson argued.
Notice, however, that the former Prime Minister did not dispute Putin's claim that it was he - Boris Johnson - who talked the Ukrainians out of peace during talks at Istanbul.
We have to say we were somewhat disappointed too, as we were looking for something from Putin to show us what an ogre he is or some penetrating and incisive questioning from Tucker, and the interview was short on both.
Tucker's best moments were when he pressed Putin on releasing Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich who has been unjustly detained in Russia since March 2023 on an espionage allegation that he, the Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny.
While Joe Biden claims to have been "personally engaged" in getting Mr. Gershkovich and Marine Corps veteran Paul Whelan repatriated, it appears Tucker got more out of Putin about what it will take to get them back than Biden and the State Department have.
Photo credit Tucker Putin Youtube